Maryland Governor Larry Hogan gave a critical briefing on June 3, 2020 giving updates on protests throughout the state, the Maryland primary election, as well as Coronavirus testing and Maryland’s imminent move to stage two of reopening. Read key takeaways below, or view Governor Hogan’s full briefing on Youtube here.
Protests in honor of George Floyd
- Peaceful protests were held in Floyd’s memory in Baltimore Friday, Saturday and Monday.
- Marches and vigils were also held Tuesday in Columbia and Annapolis.
Maryland Primary Updates:
- State Board of Elections to prepare a full report of the problems associated with the primary election yesterday by July 3
- requesting the General Assembly to conduct oversight hearings.
COVID-19 Testing Update:
- Total of 380,716 coronavirus tests, including 14,385 in the last 24 hours, which is well above the state’s short-term goal of 10,000 tests per day.
- The state’s acquisition of 500,000 coronavirus tests from a South Korean company, were part of a long-term testing strategy, and just one vital component of a complex process that also includes nasal swabs, viral transport media, platform-specific reagents and specialized RNA extraction kits.
- Biggest challenge was acquiring the necessary lab capacity.
- Announced a partnership with the University of Maryland, Baltimore, School of Medicine’s Institute for Genome Sciences starting in April to convert a research lab into a full-scale clinical testing lab that would use specialized Korean machinery and cutting-edge robotics to run the tests at a high volume.
- The lab is fully operational and able to process tests many weeks ahead of schedule.
- The statewide positivity rate has dropped to 9.5%.
- Hospitalizations are at lowest level in 50 days, and ICU beds are at the lowest level since April 17.
Reopening: Entering Stage Two
- The state has met the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s threshold for entering stage two.
- Maryland Ready to Enter Stage Two
- Starting at 5 p.m. Friday, Maryland will lift the order requiring the closure of nonessential businesses.
- Nail salons, tanning salons, massage/tattoo parlors may reopen at 50% capacity, by appointment only, and with strict safety protocols.
- Starting Monday, the state government will begin returning to more normal operations.
- The Motor Vehicle Administration and other customer-facing agencies will begin phased reopening.
- With more Marylanders returning to work, the state will gradually return to more normal transit schedules.
- The State Board of Education will continue with its plan to reopen child care centers as more parents return to work.
- If encouraging trends continue, the next step — likely coinciding with the end of the school year — will be to consider reopening some additional outdoor amusement, fitness, sporting and other summertime activities.
- The Governor continued to caution Marylanders to remain vigilant, stay home as much as possible, continue to telework whenever possible, continue practicing physical distancing and avoid crowds or large gatherings.
Watch the Governor’s full address on Youtube, or reach out to us with questions or concerns directly at 410-321-8200.
